Question Regarding Leaders

Hi, I'm a fly fisher who is relatively new to the sport and I have a
couple of questions regarding leaders. To be as precise as possible:
(1) I've been using flourocarbon tippet to nymph and fish streamers with
no tapered leader. Should I be using a tapered leader in some
instances? For the streamer fishing I use a 4' fast sink tip and about
4' or 5' of tippet. (2) I want to change leaders quickly so my choices
are either loops or leader links. I've been using the loops for
subsurface fishing and the leader links for dries because it is quieter.
Is this the best way to do it? I'm SO confused. :-) TYIA, Tom

One of the main pur[poses of a leader is to "turn over the fly". That means
that when you cast, the fly and tippet will roll out just as if it were an
extension of the line. If your flies are rolling out, or if you don't care
whether they roll out, (you may loose a few feet of your cast), then you
remove on of the main reasons for a leader. When you are nymphing, there is
much less reason for a leader. they used to sell a lot of 4' long leaders
since little more is needed. Most people I know just used 4 to 5 ' of
tippet when fishing with sink tips. Nylon leaders tend to float. Why put
on a floating leader onto a sink tip?

You will find situations where the fish are leary of your line. I fish one
lake where people beleive that you need 16' long leaders if you are using
opaque lines (don't need much if you have a clear line). It woul be hard to
fish with 16' of tippet, and 16' of tippet definitely wouldn't roll
over.,.probably just pile up. Again, though if you are float tubing, you
can just paddle away from your fly.
Hope this helps

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wrote in message
...
Hi, I'm a fly fisher who is relatively new to the sport and I have a
couple of questions regarding leaders. To be as precise as possible:
(1) I've been using flourocarbon tippet to nymph and fish streamers with
no tapered leader. Should I be using a tapered leader in some
instances? For the streamer fishing I use a 4' fast sink tip and about
4' or 5' of tippet. (2) I want to change leaders quickly so my choices
are either loops or leader links. I've been using the loops for
subsurface fishing and the leader links for dries because it is quieter.
Is this the best way to do it? I'm SO confused. :-) TYIA, Tom



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My first reaction to your question is to ask why you would use a 4' or 5'
leader with a 4' sink tip? While the tip of the line might be sinking,
unless the fly is weighted and sinks faster than the line you will find that
the fly is drifting in a much shallower lane than the tip of the line!
First try shortening the leader on sinking tip lines to about 2'. While this
may seem very short, the fact is that most fish won't react as negatively to
a sunk, dark colored fly line as they will to the silhouette of a floating
line.

Second, for sinking line use I like to "step down" my leader because I
believe I get a more positive turn-over and better control. Additionally, I
feel the nail knot is best served when it is about 50% of the thickness of
the fly line. I use about a foot or so of 20lb flouro nail knotted to my
sink tip. I then use a triple twist surgeons knot to add a foot to two feet
(at most) of appropriate flouro tippet. If I am going below about 10lb test
(2X) on the tippet I use 6" of 2X as a step to the 4X final tippet. If I am
going to use spit shot or additional weight I'll always put it on this
section of 2X right before the knot with the 3X, 4X or (seldom) 5X. I then
make sure the final tippet is a foot or less in length.

By doing all this I ensure that I have a straight and direct connection to
my fly, that the fly is working at the same depth or deeper than the tip of
the fly line, and that the fly is always working the same current lane as
the end of the fly line. The above holds true for me whether I am fishing a
nymph, streamer or wet fly, so long as we are using a sinkint tip, sinking
head or full sinking line. Truly I have determined that there is no place
for a long leader when using a sink tip line. The exception is a completely
different technique is used with a floating fly and sinking line to allow
the fly to "hover" a pre-determined distance over the bottom. And this
technique is almost always a stillwater technique for me.

As usual YMMV

Joe C.


wrote in message
...
Hi, I'm a fly fisher who is relatively new to the sport and I have a
couple of questions regarding leaders. To be as precise as possible:
(1) I've been using flourocarbon tippet to nymph and fish streamers with
no tapered leader. Should I be using a tapered leader in some
instances? For the streamer fishing I use a 4' fast sink tip and about
4' or 5' of tippet. (2) I want to change leaders quickly so my choices
are either loops or leader links. I've been using the loops for
subsurface fishing and the leader links for dries because it is quieter.
Is this the best way to do it? I'm SO confused. :-) TYIA, Tom